Spies and their histories, a winning formula for The National Archives

Steve Burgess, head of exhibitions at The National Archives, was stunned when MI5 agreed to show spy records in an upcoming exhibition.

“I didn’t have to persuade them, they were really open. They were kind, very friendly, chatty people,” said Burgess, who was allowed to visit MI5’s headquarters to discuss working with one of the most secretive organisations in the country,” Burgess said.

“I was absolutely delighted when they said yes. It was a big ask – I was surprised, absolutely thrilled.”

Mark Dunton, principal contemporary records specialist at The National Archives added: “MI5 has responsibilities around national security, privacy and protecting sensitive information and those considerations were part of the process throughout. 

The exhibition was developed collaboratively, with both organisations working together to select material that could be safely displayed for the public.”

The resulting show, curated by MI5 and Burgess’s exhibition team, won the Museums + Heritage Award for best temporary or touring exhibition of the year (budget more than £80,000) at a ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane, London.

‘MI5: Official Secrets’ included material from the interrogation in which Anthony Blunt finally confessed to spying for Russia, the briefcase Guy Burgess – another member of the Cambridge Five spy ring – left behind at the Reform Club when he fled in 1951 and a secret radio transmitter used by the Portland spy ring. For an insight into the inner workings of MI5 since its inception in 1909, the show was unrivalled.

The exhibition marked the first time MI5 had worked with an external organisation to exhibit their working records. Sir Ken McCallum, MI5’s director-general, made a rare public appearance to open the show at The National Archives in April 2025. 

Dunton said: “It was really fascinating engaging with them. We had quite a few very lengthy meetings as we went through the whole process of narrowing down the time periods and the structure of the exhibition. It was really good working with them. They were so interesting and helpful.”

The winning exhibition followed other temporary exhibitions at The National Archives including ‘Treason: People, Power & Plot’ in 2022 and ‘Protect and Survive: Britain’s Cold War Revealed’ in 2019. 

Burgess said: “I think of our repositories as being a constellation of humanity, you can really hear people speaking in the collection, it’s magical. It’s as though we have a memory box with a thousand years of lived experience.… we try to put those records back into their surroundings and I think visitors love that and really respond”.

The ‘MI5: Official Secrets’ exhibition counted almost 55,000 visitors to the Archives’ site in Kew, south-west London; double the 22,000 who visited Britain’s Cold War and almost three times as many as Treason which attracted just over 18,000 visitors.

The National Archives said the show developed out of a working relationship dating back to 2003, when MI5 first started to transfer its older working documents for preservation, just as other government teams do.

 Burgess built on the relationship of trust that has grown between the two organisations, which encouraged him to pitch the idea of an exhibition to Sir Ken McCallum.

“We were interested in exploring some of the myths and maybe demolishing some,” said MI5 Dunton.

“It was made clear to us when we talked that former head of MI5 Roger Hollis was not a Soviet spy – that was debunked by double agent Gordievsky, a wholly trustworthy source – and that Stephen Ward was not working for them during the Profumo affair as some commentators have claimed. He was warned to keep his distance from the Soviet naval attaché Ivanov, but he wasn’t working for MI5.”

“They are astonishing experts in their own history, mentally really dextrous – you had the sense you were talking to real experts in their fields.”

He believes the chance for MI5 to explain their history was attractive given how few platforms they have to talk about their work.

Inside MI5 headquarters The National Archives team saw the now decommissioned Document Delivery System, an automated mechanism for sending and receiving files from their registry. The 1970s version of this floor-to-ceiling cage inspired the design of MI5: Official Secrets.

It was on this visit that Burgess and Dunton found themselves having tea and biscuits with MI5’s history experts and came away impressed.

“As members of the public we don’t always hear about all the plots that get foiled by MI5. Sometimes tragedies occur when terrorists manage to strike but MI5 are extremely dedicated. They are very clear about their mission to protect the public and our national way of life,” said Dunton.

“You get a strong sense that they are ordinary human beings who are doing their level best to keep the country safe.” 

On the decision to enter the Museums + Heritage Awards, and why this project felt worthy of national recognition, Burgess said:”[R]ight from the outset it was clear MI5: Official Secrets was something special. It had several ingredients which people seemed to find compelling, particularly secrets and spying. It was our most popular exhibition. 

“The Museums + Heritage Awards are the equivalent to the Oscars for the heritage sector, so it was tempting to enter and see whether the judges thought the exhibition was special too. It was thrilling to win our category.”

On what the win meant personally, for the team, and for The National Archives as a whole, Burgess said:  “It was such an honour to win the award. A huge amount of work goes on right across our organisation to put together an exhibition like this, it’s a massive team effort, and this really justified the years of hard work and careful negotiations with MI5 to make it happen. The credit also goes to them for agreeing to work with us – a great deal of time and effort was put in by their staff too.”

The MI5 Archive: Official Secrets by Mark Dunton and Stephen Twigge, a visual record of the British Security Service, is published by Thames & Hudson on 3 September 2026.

The National Archives’ current exhibition, Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story 1763-1783, runs until 29 November 2026.